Scholarship / Leadership and influence at a tech startup - Chevening (Leadership & Influence essay) [2]

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LEADERSHIP & INFLUENCE ESSAY DRAFT

Nowadays I function as a Project Coordinator at XXXX, a Mexican agency focused on the development of immersive technologies such as augmented and virtual reality. I administer the correct development of projects, from budget to team assembly. From the start, it was clear that I was surrounded by a group of professionals with a set of skills different to mine, therefore, my first goal was to attain ways to communicate effectively with my new team.

During this time I have learned that to be a successful PC I need my ideas to be as clear as possible so that my team feels engaged to the project and as a result do what they do best. I believe it is essential to listen to each one of the team members needs and opinions, this allows me to have an understanding of everyone's professional abilities so I can place them in the projects that will bring out the best in them.

This can be a high-stress position since we develop approximately 15 projects at a time with a total of 13 developers involved. There is an important level of strategy needed, that means anticipating risks, dealing with clients and planning the team's schedule.

Considering those needs, I drafted and implemented new processes that go from the way we take in a new client, to the kickoff, development, and closure of a project. I discovered the main challenge was for the team to follow through, this required me to exercise a great deal of communication so that everyone understood the purpose behind the process and what we all gain from sticking to it. Creating this processes has helped open the channels of communication which saves time and reduces mistakes.

Moreover, working in tech opened my eyes to the importance of creative spaces. In that regard, one of the projects I am most proud of is the resource management tool I put together alongside our web programmer. This system allows me to follow up on the progress of our developers and the details of every single project. Since we work under tight deadlines, having better methods for organizing time and information is key. This platform has provided us with quick access to reliable numbers as well as trustable data, giving more stability to the operation.

Working alongside a young team between the ages of 22 and 35 comes with a great deal of responsibility as well as challenges. This is a team full of ideas and eager to create. Helping give structure to the office has given our developers a more organized space in which they can be creative and develop technological solutions that they like but that are useful as well.

Supporting a Mexican company to build this space and create jobs in a new industry has been a tough yet rewarding experience. I am sure that learning from the experiences of other outstanding leaders during my time in the UK will help me improve as a leader of innovative projects.